1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates, in general, to floating power plants and, more particularly, to a floating power plant, which can is freely movable on the sea and does not require separate flumes for water or adjacent piers for the supply of generating fuel.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, power plants comprise equipment for converting thermal energy or mechanical energy into electrical energy, rotate a turbine using an energy source, such as water, oil, coal, natural gas, or nuclear power, and generate electricity using a power generator connected to the turbine. Such power plants have typically been classified into water power plants, steam power plants, nuclear power plants, etc. according both to the kind of energy source used in the power plants and to the power generation method. Furthermore, tidal power plants, using tidal energy, wind power plants, using wind energy, geothermal power plants, using subterranean heat energy, solar power plants, using solar energy, and magneto-hydrodynamic (MHD) power plants, using magneto-hydrodynamic energy have been actively studied in recent years for practical use thereof as power plants in the future.
However, the above-mentioned power plants are problematic in that it is very difficult to locate the facilities of the power plants in desirable locations, and the power plants impose a large initial investment on the owners.
For example, in the Korean Peninsula, having three sides surrounded by the sea, most power plants are built at the seaside because the generating fuel, which is coal, petroleum, or liquefied natural gas, which is imported from abroad, can be easily transported so that the transport charges of the fuel can be reduced and, furthermore, the large quantity of water that is required to operate the power plants can be easily obtained from the sea.
Furthermore, the locations of the power plants have been determined in consideration of environmental impact assessments, the possibility of disasters based on the geological characteristics of selected districts, the expected impacts of accidents on neighboring industrial facilities or explosive material storage facilities, the supply of fuel and water required to operate the power plants, and the expected power consumption by power consumers using electricity supplied by the power plants.
In recent years, power plants have become recognized as harmful facilities, so it is necessary to pay careful attention to trends of public opinion of local inhabitants or of nongovernmental organizations (NGO), in addition to consideration of the conditions at locations. Thus, the determination of the locations of the power plants may be accompanied by further practical limitations.
Furthermore, in the case of a specific district, where a great quantity of electricity must be temporarily used, or of a district under development, which requires a great quantity of electricity, it is necessary to build a new power plant at the district to meet the electricity requirements of the district because there is no alternative plan. However, the installation of a new power plant in such a district must be accompanied by high investment and time consumption. Furthermore, if the amount of electric power consumption is remarkably reduced, or if the facilities using the electricity are removed, so that the use of electricity is discontinued, the power plant built in the specific district suffers from economic inefficiency. In an effort to solve the problem, electricity may be supplied to the specific district by extending the existing electric power supply network. However, the extension of the power supply network limits the quantity of electricity that can be supplied to the district.